questions about taxes and defense spending, at the heart of the issue right now. nothing succeeds like success. if they can cut a deal, this in averting this fiscal cliff this january, this could be the start of something big. that's "hardball" for now. thank you for being with us "the ed show" with ed shultz starts right now. this is the ed show, let's get to work. america, i believe we can build on the progress we have made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. >> the president is promising a fight. but republicans in congress won't go down easy. tonight bernie sanders is here to remind the president that he has the upper hand. the citizens united disaster continues to unfold for republicans. the biggest loser is losing control.

>> but the president has a real -- he succeeded intel pressing the vote. >> sherrod brown in ohio, on his massive victory. and righties continue to freak out over the death of traditional america? >> it's not a traditional america anymore. >> eugene robinson weighs in tonight. >> and with us tonight, folks, thanks for watching. the obama campaign has just released video of the president addressing his staff in chicago. he gets very emotional. it's remarkable video. we'll bring it in just a moment. president obama doesn't have a lot of time to bask in his electoral victory. the fight for the middle class starts right now in congress. the confetti was still on the floor after the celebration in chicago, and house speaker john boehner was already hinting at another major fight in congress over taxes and spending.

>> in order to garner republican support for new revenues, the president must be willing to reduce spending and shore up entitlement programs that are the primary drivers. mr. president, this is your moment. we're ready to be led, not as democrats or republicans, but as americans. >> president obama will make a statement tomorrow in the east room. the automatic spending cuts and tax hikes kicked in january 1st if washington can't reach a deal. a lot of people fear it's going to be a repeat of what happened in 2011 when the republicans 4e8d the debt ceiling hostage to get what they wanted. but thing, i guess, you could say are a bit different. we are two days removed from a landslide victory, as well as a new 55-45 democratic senate majority. the president is also the winner of the popular vote. did you hear that, republicans? winner of the popular vote with the majority of the country supporting him. the only area in government where the democrats fell shot was in the congress, the house of representatives. the should be enough to deny

president obama a mandate. mitch mcconnell made a statement saying the voters have not endorsed the failures or successes, simply given him more time to finish the job they asked him to do, together with a congress that restored balance to washington after two years of one-party control. now, not so fast. the actual number of votes cast for house seats favored the democrats by a half a million votes. this is no man dade for house republicans, but of course they're trying to swing a big stick again. there's a reason. republicans were able to capture more house seats with a majority of the vote. for example, look at pennsylvania in 2008. take a good look. where is the red? a lot of blue district, right? take a look at pennsylvania in

2012. wow. what happened? there's a lot more red. it's because democratic districts have been jerry mandered into unwinnable seats. you know, those republicans are pretty slick. reliability blue districts in the southwestern and southeastern part of pennsylvania were combined into comfortable red districts. real clear politics reported that last year pennsylvania underwent the gerrymander of the decade. this is what happens when republicans take control of state houses. elections have consequences, and all politics is local. despite democrats have been an electoral majority, republicans are able to cling to control of the house. this is not enough to override the political capital picked up by the president on tuesday. americans voted for an agenda of what? strong social programs and income equality in america. they want the president to deliver on his campaign. >> i want to reform the tax code so that simp, fair and ask the wealthiest households to pay -- the same rate we had when bill clinton was president.

the same rate we had when our economy created nearly 23 million new jobs, the biggest surplus in history, and a whole lot of millionaires to boot. >> that was before the election. that was in the -- let's see, think some convention? very clear where president obama was and very clear where the american people voted. americans want progressive action, including higher taxes on the wealthiers americans. this is a pivotal moment for the democrats. the republicans are already trying to make it hard. president obama reached out right after the election victory. he was told that they were already asleep. today speaker boehner told abc news tax increases are still off the table. >> putting increased revenues on the table but through reforming or tax code. i would do that if the president were serious about solving our spending problem and trying to

security or entitlement programs. >> revenue through reforming or tax code? this is the same stuff voters just rejected. this was a bright spot in boehner's interview. he was asked if republicans will still pursue full repeat. >> i think the election changes that. it's pretty clear the president was reelected. obama care is the law of the land. >> but you won't be extending the time next year trying to repeal obama-care? >> there are certainly maybe parts of it we believe that need to be changed. we may do that. no decisions at this point. >> wait a minute. a short while later, boehner walked back his answer on twitter. obama care is the law of the land, but it's raising costs and hurting small businesses. our goal remains full repeat? it looks like he's scared of the tea partiers in the caucus. president obama was close to

persuade ing him on a grand bargain before boehner buckled. i guess you could say this time around they don't need boehner. they hold not all the carts, but more cards, and the middle eastern people are clearly behind this president, they elected a more progress i have senate. senator patty murray, who led the democratic senatorial expand committee says her party is ready to link arms and jump off the cliff. >> if we can't get a good deal, a balanced deal that calls on the wealthy to pay their fair share, i would absolutely continue this debate into 2013 rather than lock in a long-term deal that throws middle-class families under the bus. >> okay. so here we go. president obama himself said he will not let a bill pass his desk extending the bush tax cuts. >> will you veto any legislation

that extends all of the bush tax cuts? >> yes, and the reason is we can't afford it. it would cost us a trillion dollars. >> here we are, already in a vital period of time for president obama's next four years. wight to go back to the old tax rates if we want to deal with the deficit reduction, and not willing to bargain with the big three to get there? that's where i think we all to be. this is what we voted for on tuesday. fasten your seat belts, americans. this will come up onally fast. we want to know what you think. tonight's question -- does the president's victory give him more leverage? text a for yes, b for no. and you can always go to our blog. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. joining me tonight is independent senator bernie sanders from vermont. great to have you with us tonight. >> good to be with you.

>> are you surprised republicans are already announcing their intentions to obstruct? how else do we interpret that interview that mr. boehner gave? >> no. these guys, the republican party is now an extreme right-wing party. it is owned by their campaign contributors and the millionaires and billionaires of this country. it doesn't surprise me. but the american people have been very, very clear on this issue. when you talk about deficit reduction, at every single poll that i have seen what this election is about is the american people are saying no. we're in the midst of a horrendous wall street-caused recession. we are not going to cut social security, which harry reid reminds us has nothing to do with the deficit. we're not going to cut medicare or medicaid. yes, at the time when wealthiest people are doing at the nominal well, we are going to ask the rich, we are going to ask corporate america one out of four corporations in this country paying nothing in taxes.

we're losing over $100 billion a year because of the tax havens in the cayman islands that corporate and america and the wealthy take advantage of. yes we're going to do deficit reduction, but we will be damned, especially after this election if we balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor. i hope very much that the democrats stand tall on this issue. i hope that the president is prepared to go to every state in this country and ask the people, no matter how conservative that state is, do you really believe we should give tax breaks to billionaires and cut social security and medicare. ed, i don't think there's one state in this country where the people will say yes, that makes sense. >> so, senator, you want

president obama to hit the road after the first of the year and go sell the american people, just like bush did in 2005 when he won reelection? what do you think the president should do with this capital? >> i think on this issue, ed, on this issue of whether we do deficit reduction in a way that is fair or whether we give more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires as john boehner wants. whether we cut programs that struggling people desperately depend upon, i think we have the overwhelming majority of the people on our side. i think if we cannot reach an great in d.c., which is very likely, because the republicans will continue to obstruct, i think the president's got to go around this country and say to those people in oklahoma, in mississippi, in alabama, guess what? this is the shy. tax breaks, you're going to scut social security, what do you think? call of your congressman, write to your senator. we can win this debate. >> you think that would turn speaker boehner? it's very clear he does not want a revenue component. the president says that he is not going to sign a bill unless

it has that in it. so where are we? >> well, i'll tell you what, ed. if i was speaker boehner, if i were a republican congressman or senator and my phone lines were bouncing off the hooks, because people were saying stop protecting billionaires, i would get a bit nervous. i am already working with a number of senior groups, veterans groups who are very clear on this issue. there's a petition out there. we have one on my website. there are other petitions. millions of people have got to get involved in this fight. we have the people on our side. they have got to stand up and fight back and take on the big money interests who want to do deficit reduction in an extremely unfairway. >> would you characterize this period of politics between the end of this election and the first of the year as intense as it's going to get?

>> this is a very, very significant moment not only for millions and millions of people, but for the future of politics in this country. >> okay. >> barack obama won this election. the democrats won. they have now got to stand with the working class, the middle class of this country and now allow wall street and big-money interests to run over us i want senator bernie sanders, congratulations on your victory, senator. great to have you with us. thank you. remember to answer tonight's question, share yew thoughts with us on twitter and on facebook. up next, raw emotion from the president, as he addresses his campaign staff in chicago. just earlier today, the campaign just released this video. you're going to want to see it. you're not going to see it anywhere else. stay tuned.

after the president was reelect reelected. he address the the staff, who worked so hard on this campaign.

he brought to it became very emotional. >> i grew up, i became a man during that process. so i come here and look at all of you what comes to mind is not that you remind me of yourself. it's the fact that you are so much better than i was. in so many ways. you're smarter, and you're better organized, and you -- you're more effective. and so i'm absolutely confident that all of you are going to do just amazing things in your lives. and, you know, the what can be called the ripples of hope that come out when you throw a stone in a lake. that's going to be you. i'm just looking around the room thinking, wherever you end up,

in whatever states, in whatever capacities, whether in the private sector, not-for-profit or you decide to go into public service, you're just going to do great things. that's why even before last night's results, i felt that the work that i have done, um, in running for office had come full circle. because what you guys have done means the work that i'm doing is important. i'm really proud of that. i'm really proud of all of you, and -- and what you just -- [ cheers and applause ] this is a man who laid it on the line for what he believes in. he knows those in that room and

millions like him care about the middle class in this country and the future of america. coming up, senator sherrod brown on his victory over dark money in the buckeye state. share your shots with us on twitter. we're coming right back.

we are back. karl rove and the super pacs managed to achieve an epic failure. there's no other way around that. despite all of the money they spent, president obama was reelected, and democrats increased that margins in both the senate an the house. six of the eight senate candidates supported by karl

rove lost. overall crossroads had only a 1% return on investment on the $103 million spent on attack ads according to a study by the night foundation. about 1.3 billion was spent by outside groups overall, two thirds from the republican side, with similar results. a spokesman for the american crossroads dismissed it say they kept the gop race close and winnable despite president obama's massive financial advantage. it sounds like the latest excuse from rove and his buddies is, well, it really could have been worse. here's the obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod. >> if i were one of those billionaires who were finding crossroads and those other organizations, i would be wanting to talk to someone and asking where my refund is.

the heartening news is you can't buy the white house, you can't buy, you know, you can't overwhelm the congress, you know, with these super pac dollars. i would think there will be reluctance in the future when mr. rove and others come knocking on the door because of what happened on tuesday. >> let's bring in senator sherrod brown of ohio, victorious on tuesday night. congratulations. good to have you with us. >> thanks, ed. good to be back. >> we know they could buy the white house if they're going to lie all the time. they haven't tried the truth yet. i guess we'll have to wait another four years to see how it goes. you were one of karl rove's prime targets. how did you provide survive? >> they spent $40 million here, $31 or 2 million, and another 7 or 8 on mailings. they ran 50,000 individual ads,

the last two weeks there were eight different groups kind of directed by karl rove directing the choir in the state, polluting the air waves, if you will. i think we won't, because we stayed on a progressive message. it's not left/right, liberal/conservative,ist not whose side are you on? >> we talked job auto rescue, standing up to china on currency, and leveling the playing field, talked about community colleges, and we also have the best grass-roots effort in the country working with the obama campaign. we had 65 full-time field organizers, tens of thousands of volunteers, and you really need the strong message of progressive strong effort, and you also need a good grass-roots organization. 40 million clearly did us damage. it made the race a lot close are than it would have been, but i think voters in ohio, as we talked on your radio show,

voters started to ask themselves why all this outside money? it's the oil companies, wall street, these groups that karl rove calls upon to fund his political. >> what about the pickups in the senate? it will be a more progogressive caucus, what does that mean? >> it mean i think the senate will have more backbone, when i see people like tammy baldwin and macy honoro from hawaii, i talked to jeff americaly today ly kly, they'll see a difference in rules, working with the reelected president i think we'll see a stronger progressive move in this country, where john boehner and mitch mcconnell will have to listen more than they have to the voters. they said there was a mandate in 2012 when they won. it's pretty clear this year as you said, pickup in house seats, unbelievable senate. this is the most members of the senate in one party, 25 democrats were elected out of i believe 33 races this year. more than any year in either party since 1964. that's a strong, strong message to move forward.

democrats were elected out of i believe 33 races this year. more than any year in either party since 1964. that's a strong, strong message to move forward. >> here's calf rove today talking about how president obama won. >> he succeeded by suppressing the vote by saying you may not like who i am, but i'm going to paint this other guy as simply a rich guy who only care being himself. >> suppressing the vote i thought was cutting hours and cutting days, and not putting voting machines where they should be, stuff like this. what's your response to that? >> that's the first thing that jumped out. i have not heard that clip yet about suppressing the vote. that's what they tried to do all over this state. on the one hand, the most

cynical. they try to buy them on the one hand, suppress it on the other. karl rove had a bad night, bad day on tuesday. he's got a lot of explaining to do to a lot of billionaires whose money he talked them out of, and i think he's desperate. >> so now he's trying to sell these people that president obama suppressed the vote. i mean, they really have no boundaries, do they, senator? >> i've never heard of suppressing the vote because you made good speeches or you organized your own people to vote. obviously it's one of those things he wished he hadn't said, into you it does son ludicrous, but i'm still concerned about this money. we have to change the rules, either through the court or a constitutional amendment. this is clearly bad for our system. >> ohio senator sherrod brown with us on "the ed show." congratulations for your win. >> thank you very much. up nest, the shamefully long lines on election day. the president says we have to fix this.

find out what america needs to do to fix this before the next election. and the election marked the ends of traditional america? according to bill o'reilly, of course he's always looking out for you. how will o'reilly cope. i'll ask eugene robinson. stay tuned.

whether you voted for the very first time or waited in

line for a very long time -- by the way, we have to fix that. >> i wonder if they'll filibuster that effort. thanks for staying with us tonight. they had a great night tuesday, but there is something we cannot forget. we started reporting on the long lines, the wait stretched from 4 to 5 to 6, to in some cases 7 hours. these lines did not deter the 120 million people who did vote we're grateful they got out and voted. no doubt. to me there's something really un-american about this whole process. it's ridiculous to force moms and dads and students and workers and elderly folks to wait four hours to cast a ballot? it turns out minorities suffered the longest waits. the afl-cio reports that minorities were more likely to wait at least 30 minutes to

vote. 22% of african-americans and 24% of hispanics waited the longest. threat one election official is now apologizing. these were the early voting lines at lee county election headquarters in ft. myers, florida. on election night some voters were still in line long after the polls closed. the last ballot was cast at 1:30 a.m. in the morning, that would be on wednesday. here's something we haven't seen before. the election supervisor gave this emotional apology. >> i want to close by apologizing to the voters of lee county county, to those who waited in long lines -- excuse me -- during eight days of early voting. to those who waited in long lines at the precincts, and to those who got discouraged and left without voting. >> florida counties say these didn't have enough scanners.

dozens of poll workers overslept. 19 polls places in hawaii ran out of the ballots. folks, i think this is terribly unacceptable. the president said we have to fix this. i say let's get to work. let's turn to crystal ball, co-host of the cycle and ari melber. do you think in a maybe the american people and democrats, i think the democrats want to do something about this. is there any way to shame republican leadership into doing this, crystal? >> well, probably not, though i think if the american people get upset enough about any issue and make any issue hot enough, you can make a change. i would point to our home state of virginia. republicans took over the state senate, they held the house of delegates, trying to push through this extreme legislation, and eventually they went too far, mandating transadvantagible probes. people in virginia got upset,

even though ropes controlled every level of government, they still had to pull back that bill. so anything is possible, but i think the big thing here is it's very unusual and it's very bad idea to have partisan officials in charge of elections at all. >> how do we fix this? is this going to take a federal law? the president said we need to fix this. you're not going to fix it on a state level. this is with all these state houses, seen it in ohio, seen it in florida. i mean, it's been an iron fist, how do we fix it? >> i think that's the question, and at the start i'm glad you're covering this. this is not considered always an exciting story. people waiting in line, but it's an important story. it goes to the heart of democracy. we had we had the help america vote act, and it came out of the 2000 reforms with ought frustration over florida. we need federal requirements. we need protection for early vote. we need an ability for the great

number of people who want to vote, which by the way, is a good thing, to make sure they have access from the start. i think it goes, i'll say this briefly. it goes to what our democracy is about. if you define it as everyone being able to vote, we were not a democracy in the 17 unz or 1800s. we fund whatever we want to fund in this country. we've had billions go out of a back end of a truck in baghdad. nobody asked any questions whatsoever. this is america, and this is how we treat the taxpayers. they rigged it to do this. one party has done it. the democrats haven't done this. is this a funding issue? of course it is. the republicans don't want to fund it. >> they don't want to fund it, but as you pointed out in the statistics, it's not like everyone is suffering the same. >> well, what about that? >> it's obviously that minority communities, communities that tend to vote democratic, are being unfairly burdened, forced to wait in much longer lines,

given much less adequate resources. i do want to sound a positive note. all the efforts to increase the number of ids, eliminate sunday souls to the polls, i think it made people so determined there was no way they were going to get out of that line. they were angry, bound and determined to cast their ballot. >> we should point out there were no democratic statehouses anywhere in america that wanted to suppress the vote. how is that, ari? how could this be just a real good republican idea? >> look, i think crystal hit it on the head. the problem for the reps here is that people can see what they are up to. people are roundly rejecting it. but you're speaking to policy. you're speaking to what should be the minimum requirements, regardless of the politics. i think you need federal requirements that secure early vote, and access to the polls

without any intervention by part sal state officials. >> you just saw the videotape of the president, what do you think? >> it has been amazing. it's been incredible to see the president give a sigh of relief and look back at nostalgia at his own life and what his campaign means not just for him but for the entire country. seeing him connect in that emotional way with the young people who worked their tails off for him. it's moving. >> i think getting reelected means more than getting elegislate elected the first time. he really realizes he's on the cusp many doing something huge. no doubt. ari, great to have you with us. lots more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. the white establishment is now the minority. up next, eugene robinson on the right-wing freakout over minority voters. how did righties gets this election so wrong? >> he's succeeded by suppressing the vote. >> michael tomaski from "the

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welcome back to "the ed show." despite the best efforts to suppress the vote in america, despite the best efforts from fox news and other conspiracy theorists, women, turn out to vote on tuesday, and they turned out to vote for president obama. the thought was just too depressing for fox news to even contemplate. bill o'reilly took one for the team and delivered the bad news. >> how do you think it got this tight? >> because it's a changing country. the demographics are hanging. it's not a traditional america anymore. there are 50% of the voting public. -- >> o'reilly. are mourning the loss of what they call real america. >> the white establishment is

now the mine norse. you'll see a tremendous hispanic vote for president obama, overwhelming black vote and women will probably break president obama's way. people feel that they are entitled to things and which candidate between the two is going to give them things? >> ann coulter doubled down on the receipt ricks. >> people are suffering, the country is in disarray. if mitt romney cannot win in this economy, then the tipping point has been reached. we have more takers than maker and there's no hope. you know, but instead of rethinking their positions on the issues, they are lashing out at women and minorities. here's rush limbaugh on latinos and the democratic party. >> if it were true that the primary reason that people --

was to work, a democrat party would be the ones building the fence on the border. why do you think the democrats welcome them? why do you think the democrats want amnesty? they know they have them as voters. eugene robinson is joining me. eugene, good to have you with us. just a few weeks before the election i interviewed colonel lawrence wilkerson. this is what he had to tell me before the election. i want your response. >> my party is full of racists. the real reasonable a considerable portion of my party wants president obama out of the white house has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competent, his commander in chief, and everything to do with the color of his skin. >> there's a lot to unpack. let's start with the fox crew. what do you think? >> watching them just freak out, it's -- you know, ed, it's touching. i feel sorry for them.

i almost want to cry, but i think i'm going to manage to restrain myself. at least bill o'reilly had the guts to say what they mean, which is that, you know, we are shocked and amazed that white mime don't get to run every single thing anymore, and we're error filled by that. you know, if he actually looks as demographic trends in this country, he will just have conniptions and the vapors and just pass dead away. so let's hope he never gets to see those figures. you know, he takes absolutely the wrong lesson from the debacle that republicans suffered. the lesson he takes is all these dusky interlopers, all they want

is stuff. that's absolutely not true. that's absolutely the wrong lesson. the right lesson is republicans have a platform that calls for a dysfunctional health system, that excludes 51 million people. gee, is that popular? they called for an electoral system that excludes people from voting. is that popular? they want a tax system that basically has no taxes on the very wealthy, and that soaks everybody else, and decent mates the middle class. is that popular? why do they think these things will be popular? >> people want stuff, is what he said. people said african-americans and latinos. how insulting is that? >> well, it's insulting, it's racist. it's -- you know, i would say it's unacceptable as a part of our public discourse, except what is unacceptable anymore, especially from the likes of the robesp roakes gallery that we quoted in the beginning of the segment. frankly we can say that this is the kind of stuff one hopes

fades gradually into relevance, because guess what? the country did get out and vote on tuesday, and the country is moving forward. >> i guess i'm not too concerned with how mitt romney lost. i'm more excited about why president obama won. and i don't care if the republican party rehabilitates itself. they are so out of touch, and those comments right there, we all now how they're connected to the republican party and the scorch serve tiff movement, but does this strengthen the democratic party? does this kind of thinking just shove more people right into the independent-minded arena that is going to favor the progressive agenda in america? what do you think? >> i think it absolutely does. if you want to look at minorities, african-americans with 93%, hispanics 71% for the president. ation-americans now the fastest grown minority group in the country went 73% for president obama and the democrats.

these are numbers that make the republican party not just in the long term, in the medium term, and maybe in the short term unsustainable. it's untenable to be losing the future of the country by these kinds of margins. either they change or they die, they go the way of the when i ig party, and the civil war we'll see in the republican party. the opening salvos were fired today. >> eugene robinson inns thanks so much. the right-wing spin machine works so hard to paint the election as a win for mitt romney. even the candidate bought their lies. interesting details ahead. stay with us.

we love to hear from our viewers on twitter at ed show and on our facebook page. tonight many of you are surging democrats to stand firm on the fiscal krif. this tweet -- president obama

should stand true to his promise and go off the fiscal cliff and make sure the rich pay a fair share. and ds butte tweeds dems should take it to the road for the people to know what's happening. keep sharing your thoughts with us. still to come, the conservative alternative reality comes crashing down and the american public isn't buying their lies. stay tuned.

ed show survey tonight, i ask you does the president's victory give him more leverage in the economic fight? 98% say yes, 2% say no. i thought that would have been 100%. next, the republican spin on this election is a great example of the alternative reality they live in. it's been two days since president obama's win and they're still making stuff up.

michael of the "the daily beast" will tell us just how long the republicans can keep these lies going.

in the big finish, president obama's win could force republicans to abandon their alternative reality and maybe try to come back to earth. republicans have been fabricating information for years, don't you think, on things like iraq, katrina, tax breaks, social issues and these social safety net, among other

things? then they rely on the right wing spin machine to spread their lies. with this election put their information campaign in the spotlight big time. people took notice. for months, all the numbers pointed to a win for president obama. republicans have been making things up to convince people that romney was going to win this thing. >> if they're in trouble with the early vote they will lose huo and the election. >> these polls are conducted by people who want obama elected and want their agenda. >> too many people weighting their model on the 2008 model showing a disproportionate turnout. >> it will be the biggest surprise in recent american political history. it will rekindle the whole question as to why the media played this race as a nail biter where in fact i think romney will win by quite a bit. >> republicans and the romney

campaign actually believed all of this garbage, so their defeat was pretty hard to handle. one romney advisor said romney was quote shell-shocked by the loss. meanwhile, the mastermind behind most of the lies is still making stuff up. carl karl rove wrote in an op-ed the president was also lucky. this time the october surprise was not dirty trick, but an act of god, hurricane sandy interrupted mr. romney's momentum and allowed mr. obama to look presidential and bi bipartisan. wrong again toured urd blossom. that's what mr. bush used to call you. the hurricane had absolutely nothing to do with the president's win. this chart shows poltracking the last month. you can see president obama re regained his momentum before hurricane sandy hit.

reality is coming to haunt the republicans in the electorate. let's bring in michael, special correspond for the dal "the daily beast" and wrote a theory on conservative crapola. i love it. this election is a great example how the republican party thinks one thing and the conservative media re gurgitates it out and pays no attention to the truth. what about it? >> their point, they don't exist to assess the facts, they exist to rebut the facts. they exist to try and challenge the existing reality and try and create a new reality. that's what they do and tried to do for the several weeks leading up to the campaign. i was struck many mornings, ed, i would go to the computer, turn on my twitter feed and see a poll came out and lead ing ing

wisconsin or huo by five points and within five minutes of seeing the poll result i see conservatives saying that poll had 7% more democrats than republicans. that's crap, nonsense, that's never going to happen. that's a fake world. >> it was pretty entertain, you have to admit. >> it was. it was greatly entertaining. it was especially entertaining on election night when sure enough the numbers came in. what were the results? the electorate was 6% more democratic thannen en republican and 8% more democratic in ohio and exactly right. >> what do you think about romney being shell-shocked, what one of his aides said. do you think he bought into all this spin and garbage? >> i'm almost touched he was shell-shocked. >> showed some emotion.

>> it also shows, that, yes, he obviously did buy into this. i'm sure he only watched fox news and he only listened to the people who were reinforcing what he wanted to hear. i think he really did believe he had tremendous momentum. i'm sure he assigns it all to sandy, as you mention in your intro, if that hadn't happened, he was going to be the president. it's just really weird. but the person nicious thing about it, forget mitt romney, it's continuing now. they're constructing an alternative reality about now that's even more concerning. >> they just lied in this campaign, flat out lied. these guys across the street just backed them up all the way. all these conservative talkers around the country, it is amazing. michael tomalsky, great to have you here. that's it for the ed show and the rachel maddow show starts now.